Leo XIV prayed at the tomb of Pope Francis on Saturday, just two days after being elected new head of the Catholic Church and hours after vowing to humbly follow in his predecessor’s footsteps. Vatican News published a photo of the white-robed pope kneeling before Francis’s simple marble tomb at the basilica in central Rome,

P olitical figures around the world have congratulated Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, after his election on Thursday, May 8, as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Hailing from Chicago and a dual U.S.-Peru national, Prevost is the first North American Pope and second from the Americas, after his late predecessor Francis.

At this early stage of Leo XIV’s pontificate, the text is a “must read” for Catholics. Here are three notable takeaways.